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I-TEAM: Amid U.S. teacher shortage, where do we stand locally?

AtomicMind CEO Leelila Strogov stresses that the teacher shortage is not a shortage at all, but a failure in recruitment and retention.

The I-TEAM finds as many as one in five teachers in Richmond County schools are being hired with an emergency or provisional waiver.

As another school year begins, another warning flashes about the state of our local classrooms.

“It’s really bad. It’s really bad.” Leelila Strogov is the founder of Atomicmind, a foundation that provides free financial counseling for school scholarships to students from kindergarten and into college.

She says she’s finding across the country the phrase “teacher shortage” isn’t accurate.

“It’s ultimately a misnomer. Teacher shortages implies that there’s literally a shortage of teachers and there aren’t a shortage of teachers. What .. what there is a shortage of is teachers in classrooms. So really, what we have is a recruitment and retention failure.”

About AtomicMind

AtomicMind is an education technology company offering families a boutique coaching experience that prepares students to become “wow candidates” in the increasingly competitive college admissions landscape. A curated team of strategic advisors, tutors and coaches engages each student to identify their individual “zone of genius,” connecting what excites them with what can be showcased through the right mix of 427 high-impact opportunities. This immersive AtomicMind experience is enabled by a technology platform that keeps students organized and on track with measurement, accountability and strategic decision-making. Founded by MIT and Harvard graduates with 40+ years of elite admissions experience, AtomicMind is trusted by families internationally for getting 99% of students into one or more of their three, top-choice schools – all while reducing family tension inherent in the admissions process. For more information, please visit www.atomicmind.com.